Joe Rocha, the lead golf instructor at Golf Country in Middleton, has this teaching thing down to a science.
One would expect that to be the case, since the affable 46-year-old Lynnfield native also connects with top-50 golf instructors and researchers and shares his knowledge with students in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s science lab.
Rocha’s unique approach and analysis of the golf swing has earned him New England PGA – Massachusetts Chapter Teacher of the Year honors for 2025. He will be among those honored at the NEPGA’s awards banquet this fall. Jim Callahan, the longtime Chelmsford CC professional, nominated Rocha for the award.
Rocha doesn’t simply tell clients “move your left foot forward” or “loosen that grip.” He’s a keen observer who aims to correct flaws in a golfer’s swing.
“Golf is a lifelong process. It’s ongoing. I tell my students to keep an open mind. In some ways it’s like a science project. The goal is to get my students to lose fewer balls and keep it in play, to eliminate the unwanted shot, to eliminate mistakes. It’s work. Even tour players make double bogeys.”
He’s embraced the findings of Dr. Steven Nesbit and Michael Jacobs. Nesbit is a biomechanist and professor of Mechanical Engineering at Lafayette College who has conducted extensive research on golf swing mechanics, including equipment and human body biomechanics. Nesbit and Jacobs collaborated on the “Science of the Swing” book and the Jacobs 3D Golf analysis system. Jacobs is a leading golf coach who has worked with several PGA champions
“I’d go to all of Michael Jacobs’ seminars in Long Island. He’s a mentor now. … How did I get in with these guys?” said Rocha with a laugh.
“There are many different avenues toward improving your golf game. We use our body to create the motion of the golf swing so it follows that it is important to maintain our physical health in order to swing the golf club most efficiently and play consistent golf during an 18 hole round from start to finish.”
Rocha grew up just down the street from Sagamore Spring Golf Club in
Lynnfield and fell in love with the game as a youngster, His dad got a family membership to Thomson Club in North Reading and he was off and running. It was a happening place. Bill Flynn and his staff ran a great junior program and gave kids encouragement every step of the way.
Rocha is a 1988 St. John’s Prep graduate who lives in Beverly with wife Jennifer. He and Lou O’Keefe, another Lynnfield kid and skilled golfer, were members of the Prep’s state championship golf team that year.
Upon graduation, he earned a walk-on spot on the North Carolina State golf team. “I birdied the first four holes on my tryout and thought ‘Oh, this is good.’ But the guys down there were different. I was outmatched. They played year-round. We got snow up here. There was no Trackman back then.” He graduated with a degree in business management.
Rocha discovered he had a talent for teaching and zeroed in on that. He worked at Salem CC under Kirk Hanefeld. He worked at Winchester CC under Jim Lane. He worked at Essex CC under Jean and Tom Waters. He worked at the Jim McLean Golf School at PGA West in La Quinta, California.
From 2016-20 he was back at St. John’s Prep as varsity golf coach. He taught at the Sun ‘N Air Golf Center in Danvers full time, before Jon Nekoroski hired him as head instructor at Golf Country in Middleton. That was 15 years ago, and that’s where he’s stayed.
He also works at MIT as a golf instructor, using indoor simulators.
